It’s almost inevitable that at some point you’ll ride your bike across a patch of spilt diesel. This is extremely slippery, so if you’re lucky, the tyres will slide, the bike will twitch and you’ll continue on your way while wondering what on earth just happened. But it could be that you’ll find yourself riding perfectly normally one moment then with no warning, sliding on your ear the next. Chances are, if there’s no other obvious cause, a diesel spill was to blame.

It’s very hard to spot in time to manoeuvre around it, but there are some tricks you can use to reduce the risk. On roundabouts, you’re better off staying near the central island rather than riding around the outer edge – when diesel’s spilt it’s mostly in a line on the outside of a corner. And near filling stations, bus garages and lorry depots there’s almost always a regular diesel spillage patch on one or two corners nearby, so stick near the centre of the road and take it a bit easier.

Leaking fuel tanks are illegal, so you can also help the cause by reporting to the police vehicles you see dumping this lethal liquid onto our roads.

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In the UK, Carole Nash Insurance Consultants Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, under firm reference number 307243. You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting their website on www.fca.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 111 6768.

Carole Nash Insurance Consultants Ltd is regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities; its registration is recorded on the website www.claimsregulation.gov.uk